Tiffany Shines with Beat and Raise Q3

Shares of Tiffany are trading higher by 3.2% to $50.30 in thin pre-market activity, following the company's report of better-than-expected Q3 earnings and upward revised fiscal-2007 EPS guidance to the upside of the consensus estimate. Tiffany's Q3 net income more than tripled to $98.9 million, or $0.71/share ($0.27/share ex-items), beating analyst estimates of $0.25/share. Tiffany earned $0.48/share from the sale-leaseback of its Tokyo flagship store to Goldman Sachs. Sales climbed 18% to $627.3M, also beating expectations of $616.2M. "We are pleased with our overall businesses in the U.S. and internationally, as well as with product performance ranging from robust diamond jewelry sales to a healthy increase in silver jewelry sales. We are now one month into the all-important November-December holiday season and are pleased with overall sales growth that is meeting our expectations," commented CEO Michael J. Kowalski. (Earnings call transcript later today). Tiffany raised its fiscal-2007 adjusted EPS guidance to $2.25 to $2.30, from $2.22 to $2.27 previously. Analysts were expecting $2.29/share. FY sales are now seen up 15% (est. $3.05B), versus its earlier target of 14% growth and analyst estimates of $2.97B. Tiffany said year-to-date through Nov. 29 it has repurchased 7.51M shares of its common stock for $364.5M and has $331M available for repurchases through Dec. 2009. Shares of Tiffany fell 3% to $48.75 on Thursday.

Sources: Press release, Associated Press, Bloomberg
Commentary: Luxury Retailers Immune to Holiday Spending Slowdown - Reuters • High Energy Costs Could Rein In Holiday Spending - Survey • Baron Funds: Tiffany and Ralph Lauren Should Outperform
Stocks to watch: TIF. ETFs: ROB

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